India's top legal firms are hiring and promoting female leaders. Here's the reason.

Copyright © HT Digital Streams Limit all rights reserved. A acid way to ensure more diversity at the top is to rent and promote women to senior roles, firms found. (Mint) Summary at some firms has been almost half of the promotions to the role of a partner and higher over the past five years, estimating the industry keepers and insiders. What does it drive, and how does it change the industry? India’s top legal firms place more women in part and senior partner rollers, as they want to build ’empathetic’ and ‘collaborative’ long-term relations with their clients. In some firms, women have been almost half of the promotions to the role of a partner and higher over the past five years, industry viewers and insiders estimate. “A significant shift is visible,” says Fereshte Sethna, founder and managing partner of DMD advocates, who have more than three decades experience in the profession. “Even among litigators, we now see many more women in court than we did 20 or 30 years ago.” A acid way to ensure more diversity at the top is to rent and promote women to senior roles, firms found. For example, 44 women’s advocates have joined the Law Firm Trillegal’s All-Equity Partnership for the past five years, which account for about 42% of all new partners who joined during this time. A partnership for all equity is a partnership structure in which all partners have a real estate interest, ie equity and directly share in the gains and losses of the firm. Unlike non-equity partners, these individuals often have a say in big decisions. Khaitan & Co has promoted 75 women to partnership roles since 2020, compared to 170 men to senior roles. Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co added 66 women’s partners about the salary and equity partnership during this period. It currently has 188 partners. “Although we are a merit-driven firm, there has always been the emphasis on ensuring equal opportunities for everyone by promoting an inclusive environment that does not discriminate on gender grounds. Women are now forming almost 51% of our attorneys,” says Shweta Shroff Chopra, partner, Shardul Amarchand Managaldas. JSA advocates and lawyers told Mint that it currently has 54 women’s attorneys in partnership and senior partnership roles. “Our overall diversity ratio is 46% and we were able to keep it at 45%, even at the partner level,” said Suman Rudra, chief talent officer of advocates and attorneys of the JSA. A typical law firm has handled partners at the top that manage advocates, deal with key customers, do business and supervise the firm’s strategy, finance and overall success. Over the past three to four years, law firms have seen cut wars in India, as partners have moved to competitive firms with entire teams. In July 2024, lawyers and attorneys from JSA Nisha Kaur Uberoi, one of India’s leading antitrust advocates, rented with her 25 -year -old team. Management of the culture according to managers has been employed in areas that dominate the industry over the past five years, such as corporate, banking, financing and employment, insolvency and restructuring. A common thread at firms with women-led partnerships is their ability to keep clients engaged over long periods, experts said. To utilize this, some law firms conduct leadership training programs to strengthen employees’ strategic, management and interpersonal skills, along with one-on-one coaching to help women build trust and prepare for leadership roles. Some companies also introduce flexible policies to encourage more mothers to join. Chopra of Sam said: ‘We have increased our paternity leave allowance to three weeks and additional childcare leave (until children are three years old) for all young parents, in addition to the statutory maternity leave policy for mothers, to ensure that both parents can share the cargo of children. In addition, we have ongoing hybrid work (one day a week work), work of any year (per year) and Carege (up to three weeks) of generation “. Anupriya Anand, Head of Human Resources at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM), said women leaders of today usually have a different approach than previous generations. The promotions in CAM over the past five years were women, who are now taking 50% of the leadership roles, she said. And emphasize mentoring, door parties and a more open and supporting operation. Aparna Mittal, a former M&A partner at Tier-1 law firm and founder of Samāna Center for Gender, Policy and Law, An Anti-Diversity and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (Dei), said. Second Rung law firms paint a different picture. Advocates are dedicated to what is important, or who is given the opportunity to see and who does not. Experience is a product of exposure and opportunity, “Mittal said.” Do you only send men out for international conferences? Network is an important area for professional growth and visibility, “she added. She emphasized that gender diversity should not only be a female conversation.” By asking whether women leaders include other women, we reduce the scope for male alliance. We want equality to be practiced, and that men should be strong allies, “she said. Grass bigs change the pressure on more diversity is also visible on campuses. “Today is our campus group, ranging from 70-100 graduates per year from India’s leading law firms, from 50% or more women, all chosen with no compromise on the entryvel selection parameters. Sinhji, Director of Human Resources at Khaitan & Co. Data from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Bangalore, which offers legal programs, show that the man-to-woman relationship at 40:60 stands in the legal programs. The 60% figure is a significant progress, especially in a profession that has historically been very male, “says Narayani Ramachandran, director, Nmims Bangalore. Catch all the industry news, bank news and updates on live currency. Download the Mint News app to get daily market updates. More Topics #Gender Equality Read the following story